ST. CLOUD — A team of state auditors, on orders from a joint legislative committee, is scheduled to arrive Thursday to lay the groundwork for an investigation of the city's financial records and internal fraud controls.

Harold Koppel, supervisor of the Orlando division of the Florida Auditor General's Office, said he and three other state auditors plan to meet privately Thursday with members of a citizens group that gathered nearly 1,800 signatures to force the citywide audit.

Koppel said the auditing team also wants to discuss the audit process with city officials after meeting with residents at the home of Dudley Grimes, a leader of the grassroots group.

Koppel said it will take about 10 days to complete preliminary planning for the full-scale audit. State auditors plan to begin sifting through St. Cloud's financial records in early September, he said.

Koppel's visit comes in response to a directive from the Joint Legislative Auditing Committee, a 10-member panel of state representatives and senators in Tallahassee.

On Monday, the legislative committee voted to authorize the auditor general to conduct a financial audit of St. Cloud, said Staff Director Terry Shoffstall. No city officials or residents attended the meeting, he said.

St. Cloud taxpayers must pay for the audit, which Koppel said could take at least four months to complete.

Under Florida law, the auditor general is required to conduct an audit if a petition is signed by 20 percent of the registered voters in a municipality. Last month, County Elections Supervisor Donna Bryant certified that a voters petition had netted enough signatures to force the state audit.

However, the state legislative panel narrowed the scope of the investigation, Shoffstall said.

The committee ordered the auditor general to review St. Cloud's financial records for the current fiscal year, from October 1 of last year to September 30. The petition asked state officials to review all city accounts dating back to 1982.

State auditors will focus special attention on St. Cloud's electric utility and the calculation of fuel cost adjustments, Shoffstall said. The committee also wants state auditors to review St. Cloud's internal controls used to monitor fraud or mismanagement.

Auditors can expand their probe if they find ''significant deficiencies'' in St. Cloud's current financial records, Shoffstall said.

After meeting with residents on Thursday, Koppel said he hopes to meet with city officials to discuss access to St. Cloud records and the use of office space at city hall for the auditing team.

Koppel will be accompanied by Bob Sym, assistant auditor general of the financial and compliance division, and Theodore Sauerbeck, the assistant supervisor in the Orlando office and the team leader on the St. Cloud audit.